The Simpsons, Disney and Casper – The female stars who played male characters

March 27, 2020

In the world of animation, we often don't realise who is acting of the voice of the character.

And surprisingly, a lot of our beloved male characters, including lead roles, have actually and continue to be voice by female stars.

From Disney characters, Nickelodeon's shows like Rugrats, to countless characters on The Simpsons, and 90s hits, a lot of the voices you grew up to were actually women.

According to many producers, this is because when casting a pre-pubescent male character for a cartoon or animation series, the "sensible choice" is casting a female voiceover, primarily because of longevity.

This is due to a real boy’s voice getting deeper as they grow older and in time may no longer suit the character, and a female voice actor can maintain the role longer.

Here are some of the most surprising male roles voiced by women…

Nancy Cartwright — The Simpsons Bart Simpson

One of the more well known cases is Nancy Cartwright who plays the voices of The Simpsons Bart Simpson and also the adorable naked mole rate Rufus from Kim Possible.

Nancy also voiced Chucky from Rugrats, but most impressive is the fact she stars as a number of characters on The Simpsons.

As well as the main character Bart, she also plays Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Kearney, Database and Maggie.

When turning up for her audition for The Simpsons, she intended to audition for Lisa Simpson but after finding Bart's character more interesting creator Matt Groening who allowed her to audition for the little boy and then offered her the role on the spot.

Tara Strong — Fairy Odd Parent's Timmy Turner

The Canadian-American actress has provided voice-over work for animation and video games and has performed in live-action.

One of them includes Timmy Turner, the little boy from Nickelodeon's Fairy Odd Parents.

As well as playing Timmy, she has also leant her voice to Rugrats and All Grown Up! as Dil Pickles, The Powerpuff Girls as Bubbles, and in Ben 10 she starred as lead Ben Tennyson.

Christine Cavanaugh and Candi Milo – Dexter's Laboratory

Two women have played the character of Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, first up was Christine Cavanaugh.

Christine played the iconic character before she died on December 22, 2014, at the age of 51.

The character was taken over by Candi Milo from season three onwards.

She has also starred in Cow and Chicken, ChalkZone, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Codename: Kids Next Door, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Loonatics Unleashed, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Maya & Miguel, W.I.T.C.H., The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, The Replacements, and The Adventures of Puss in Boots.